International Funds Transfer To The Philippines – Some Facts You Might Not Know

The Philippines is among the top countries in the world when it comes to residents sending money back home since more than 10% of the country’s population live and work abroad. In fact, after the much larger countries of China and India, Philippines is the third country in the world in terms of remittances received. Overseas transfer of money is extremely commonplace among the Filipinos since so many of them do it on a regular basis and there are many companies both within and outside the Philippines that help the non-resident workers in a smooth money transfer to the Philippines. Let us try and understand the importance of the foreign currency remittance to the economy of Philippines and how it has helped in the dramatic economic growth story of the country. 

The historical timeline of Immigration: As per history, the first wave of immigration took place in the early 20th century when Filipinos were hired to work in the sugar plantations and the apple farms of the United States. The subsequent waves of immigration in the 1970s and later saw a lot of qualified young Filipinos such as teachers, nurses, doctors and others migrating to a slew of countries, specially in the Gulf, the middle east and to Europe. A substantial population of Filipinos also work onboard merchant and cruise vessels and is among the largest nationality represented in many sea going vessels and maritime companies. So much so, that the Philippines is the only country in the world that has institutionalised the deployment of its people to work overseas since 1995.

The importance of Remittance to the economy: The money transfer to the Philippines has been an essential part of the country’s economy and represents almost 10% of the nation’s GDP, among the highest ratios anywhere in the world.  The nation saw a record amount of remittances in 2015, which was partly a result of the decrease in Public expenses in the preceding year, but the fact is that the money transferred to the Philippines by its expatriate workforce is critical to the consumption and growth story of the country. In many ways, overseas transfers are among the most significant contributing factors that sustain growth and help to stabilise the local currency, the peso against the US dollar. 

The various money transfer to the Philippines Remittance modes: Since the is quite substantial, there is no dearth of options for the Filipinos to send their money abroad and therefore the money transfer market is quite competitive and rapidly growing. With the growing competition, more and more new services are emerging in the space with more than 250 companies that allow money transfer to the Philippines, as per a World Bank report. Within that, the online money transfer medium is among the fastest growing overseas transfer choice that more and more Filipinos are making. With companies like InstaRem, that has completely changed the way people send money to their countries, providing much higher levels of convenience, trust and speed, Filipinos are fast becoming more and more technology conscious and are using technology and the internet to good use in all fields, including the money transfer to the Philippines. With an annual growth rate close to 5%, in the overseas transfer space, the Filipinos are fast realising and using the potential of companies such as InstaRem to safely and speedily transfer money back to their families.